Kasali ang ating “Mga Kasosyo sa Pagmamalasakit” programa pinondohan ng UJA-Federation ng New York, ang Y ay magtatampok ng mga interbyu mula sa anim na lokal na nakaligtas upang mas maunawaan ang kuwento ng bawat indibidwal. Ang mga interbyung ito ay ipapakita sa gallery ng Hebreo Tabernacle “Nakararanas ng Panahon ng Digmaan at Higit Pa: Mga Larawan ng EspirituNg Holocaust nakaligtas”. Ang gallery ay bubukas sa Biyernes Nobyembre 8.
Pearl Rosenzveig has been a member of the Y since 1998.
Perlas Rosenzveig (Photograph by Yael Ben-Zion: www.yaelbenzion.com)
Pearl (Friedman) Rosenzveig was born in Simleu Silvania, Romania on February 22, 1919. The Friedman’s were the only Jewish family in Simleu Silvania. Her father owned a liquor, tobacco, and grocery store. She has a sister, Esther, who was born on January 21, 1921. Her mother’s side of the family resided in a town about 3 hours away by train. Pearl remembers her mother as a loving person, who was also a business woman. She described her mother as a conservative Jew.
In Simleu Silvania, there was only one school for all the children to attend, however there was no high school. Pearl recalls attending that school until her 7th year. She was a gifted gymnast and states that gymnastics was her favorite subject in school. When asked if Pearl experienced any anti-Semitism as a child, she remembered a story from her time in school. Pearl and her sister were in a play about Romania and all of the states within the country. Each child was given a state to play, while Esther was given the part of Romania. When the class performed the play for the Prime Minister, the Prime Minister asked the teacher why a Jew was playing the part of Romania.
Even though the Friedman’s were the only Jewish family in Simleu Silvania, they still practiced Judaism. They celebrated every Jewish holiday and they kept kosher. On Friday, Pearl’s father would travel to a nearby Hungarian town where there were more Jews and would attend Shabbat services. On high holy days, Pearl and her mother would travel to a town called Silvaniei to go to synagogue.
When Pearl was 15, the Prime Minister of Romania put restrictions on Jewish owned businesses. The Friedman’s lost their business and was forced to move to Simleu Silvaniei. Pearl attended community college in Simleu Silvaniei, but was told that she failed her classes because she was a Jew. This did not make any sense to Pearl because when the gym teacher was absent, Pearl was called to replace her because she was such a talented gymnast. Even though Pearl tried to fight her way to stay in school, she did not win. By age 17, Pearl left the school. When she realized she had limited opportunities in such a small town, in her early twenties Pearl moved to Budapest where one of her uncles lived. She needed to learn a skill in order to survive so Pearl learned to sew. Pearl wanted to maximize her opportunities to make a living, which is why she decided to move to Budapest. She took great interest in sewing, but wanted to improve so she took a class in pattern making. Pearl remembers that later on that she began sewing yellow stars onto clothing. She recalls, “When we were in the ghetto, we needed yellow stars on each item.” Pearl had been told many times that she did not look like a Jew. When Jews were unable to shop at stores, Pearl made the courageous decision to take off her yellow star and go shopping. One time she was stopped by a Hungarian police officer who asked her why sometimes he sees her with a yellow star and other times without the star. He told her, “You’re not Jewish. Take that star off forever.”
While in Budapest, Pearl was able to correspond with her parents by sending letters. However, she lost touch with her parents in the early 1940’s and Pearl knew that she had lost her parents forever. When reflecting on her feelings about the war, Pearl believes that the Hungarian government is responsible for the deaths of the Jews in Hungary.
After being in the ghetto for about two and half years, Pearl and the rest of the Jews were rounded up. She prepared by packing up her belongings. Pearl was sure to pack her mother’s jewelry and all the valuables that she had. In addition, she bought as much nonperishable food as she could so that she would not go hungry. One morning, the police came to the door and told her that she had five minutes to gather her belongings and leave. The police gathered a few thousand Jews in a lot. Pearl recalls that the police were extremely unorganized and eventually had to send all of the Jews home because they did not know what to do with all of them. She hoped that this would be the end, but it was not. In October 1943, she heard the knock on her door and once again she left the house. This time, it was for good. She remembers walking for what felt like forever. There were several thousand Jews that were forced to march day after day. When they would stop at night, Pearl remembers that they were given very little to eat. They served liquids only and she remembers the food being disgusting. She had no choice but to eat it. The Hungarian police orchestrated the march. Pearl felt disappointed, sad, and weak. She found the strength to carry on each day throughout the march. On the march, Pearl saw a woman coming out of her house. Pearl ran over to the woman and offered to give her the sweater she was wearing in exchange for any food. Pearl did not care that winter was coming. She was so hungry; all she could think about was getting food. The woman went into her house and came out with a lot of food for Pearl and she took the sweater.
Pearl recalls the march lasting from October to December. The weather got so cold, Pearl is glad that she did not lose her fingers on the march. She knew that she was walking to Germany, but she did not realize that she was walking to Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. She reached Bergen-Belsen in January 1944. When she got to the concentration camp, all of Pearl’s jewelry including her earrings and watch were confiscated. She was stripped of everything; including her clothes. She was given clothing that was full of lice. On the days that it would snow, Pearl would strip herself down to nothing and wash herself with soap in the snow. When she was done, she had to put her dirty clothes back on and go back to the barracks. When more people would come to the camp, Pearl would do what she could to make room for people in the barracks. This would leave her without a place to sleep. She stayed in the cold corridor and became very ill.
When the camp was liberated, Pearl saw British soldiers coming to the camp. She recalls them intimidating the German soldiers. After a week, Pearl was moved from Bergen-Belsen to a better facility in Germany. She remembers being fed a little better. Everyone was still very sick from the filth of the camp. A nurse came to help the refugees including Pearl who had come down with shingles. Eventually the Swedish came and opened their borders to the refugees and offered assistance to them. In 1945, Pearl decided that she wanted to go to Sweden. She was taken there along with other refugees. The refugees were taken care of by doctors and admitted to hospitals if they needed extra medical attention.
The refugees were put into Swedish summer homes outside of Stockholm. She recalls being placed with Czech, Hungarian, and Romanian refugees. She stayed there for two years. Pearl was very happy when she was there. She was given new clothes every season so she could be comfortable. After several years in Sweden, Pearl wrote to an uncle she found in New York. Her uncle immediately sent her $100. She used this money to buy herself a watch and to get her teeth fixed since they had been damaged from the war. Once she got herself fixed up, Pearl asked her uncle to help her come to America. Even though Pearl loved her life in Sweden, she wanted to be in New York with her family. She thought she would have to wait years to get to America because the Romanian quota was so small, but she and her uncle were able to work out a way to get Pearl to America as quickly as possible. The first affidavit that her uncle was able to get for her was not enough to get her into the country so her uncle asked a friend of his for help. This friend helped get Pearl an adequate affidavit to come to America.
Sa Hunyo 14, 1948, Pearl arrived in New York City. Her aunt was at the harbor waiting for her. She recognized Pearl by the pictures she had sent. She then lived with her aunt and uncle, and worked as a seamstress.
Pearl never imagined that she would marry an American man. She recalls that she met her husband when she was visiting a friend. She married Max Rosenzveig and they had 2 daughters. Pearl has six grandchildren.
This interview was transcribed (from a previoulsy recorded interview) by Halley Goldberg of the Y’s Partners in Caring initiative and belongs to the YM&YWHA ng Washington Heights at Inwood. Ang paggamit ng materyal na ito nang walang nakasulat na pahintulot mula sa parehong Y at ang interbyu ay mahigpit na ipinagbabawal. Alamin ang higit pa tungkol sa mga Kasosyo sa Programa ng Pangangalaga dito: http://ywashhts.org/partners-caring-0
Hebreo Tabernacle ni Braso at Estelle Gold Wing Gallerysa palalo pakikipagsosyo saang YM&YWHA ng Washington Heights at Inwoodinaanyayahan ka sa amingNobyembre/Disyembre, 2013 Eksibit“Nakararanas ng Panahon ng Digmaan at Higit Pa: Mga Larawan ng EspirituNg Holocaust nakaligtas” na may mga larawan at iskultura na kuha ng: YAEL BEN-SION, PETER BULOW AT ROJ RODRIGUEZ. Kasali sa isang espesyal na Serbisyo sa memoryang75ika-anibersaryo ng Kristallnacht -ang Gabi ng Broken GlassSerbisyo at Pambungad na Pagtanggap ng Artista, Biyernes, Nobyembre 8, 2013 7:30 p.m.
Isang pahayag mula sa Y : ” Sa loob ng ilang dekada ang Washington Heights /Inwood Y ay, at patuloy na maging, isang kanlungan para sa mga naghahanap ng kanlungan, paggalang at pag-unawa. Maraming pumasok sa ating mga pintuan at lumahok sa ating mga programa ay nabuhay sa mga pagsubok at paghihirap na hindi natin maiisip. Para sa ilang mga, na magiging bahagi ng eksibit na ito, isa tulad nakakatakot ay dumating na kilala sa mundo bilang lamang "Ang Holocaust" – ang sistematikong pagpatay ng anim na milyong Judio ng Europa.
Naaalala namin sa Y ang nakaraan, igalang ang mga nabuhay at namatay noong panahong iyon, at pangalagaan ang katotohanan sa darating na mga henerasyon. Para sa kapakanan ng ating sarili at ng ating mga anak, kailangan nating ipasa ang mga kuwento ng mga nakaranas ng kasamaan ng digmaan. May mga aral na dapat matutuhan para sa hinaharap. Ang mga interbyu ay dokumentado ni Halley Goldberg, isang "Partners in Caring" program supervisor. Ang mahalagang programang ito ay ginawang posible sa pamamagitan ng isang bukas-palad na pagbibigay mula sa UJA-Federation ng New York, dinisenyo upang mapahusay ang relasyon sa mga sinagoga sa Washington Heights at Inwood. “
Ang aming pinagsamang art exhibit tampok ng mga larawan at interbyu ng mga nakaligtas ng Holocaust, Hannah Eisner, Charlie at Lilli Friedman, Perlas Rosenzveig, Fredy Seidel at Ruth Wertheimer, lahat sila ay mga miyembro ng Hebreo Tabernacle, isang kongregasyon ng mga Judio na maraming Judiong Aleman ang tumakas sa Nazis at mapalad sapat para pumunta sa Amerika, sumali sa huling bahagi ng 1930's. Bilang karagdagan din namin holocaust nakaligtas Gizelle Schwartz Bulow- ina ng aming pintor peter Bulow at WWII nakaligtas Yan Neznanskiy – ama ng Chief Program Officer ng Y, Victoria Neznansky.
Isang espesyal na Paglilingkod sa Araw ng Sabbath, na may mga tagapagsalita, sa alaala ng ika-75 Anibersaryo ng Kristallnacht (ang gabi ng Broken Glass) precedes ang pagbubukas ng Gold Gallery /Y exhibit:Ang mga serbisyo ay nagsisimula kaagad sa 7:30 pm. Lahat ay inaanyayahang dumalo.
Para sa gallery buksan oras o para sa karagdagang impormasyon mangyaring tumawag sa sinagoga sa212-568-8304 o tingnanhttp://www.hebrewtabernacle.orgPahayag ng Pintor: Yael Ben-Sionwww.yaelbenzion.comSi Yael Ben-Sion ay isinilang sa Minneapolis, MN at lumaki sa Israel. Nagtapos siya sa International Center of Photography's General Studies Program. Ben-Sion ay ang tumatanggap ng iba't-ibang mga grant at award, pinakahuli mula sa Puffin Foundation at mula sa NoMAA, at ang kanyang trabaho ay ipinapakita sa Estados Unidos at sa Europa. Siya ay naglathala ng dalawang monographs ng kanyang trabaho. Nakatira siya sa Washington Heights kasama ang kanyang asawa, at ang kanilang kambal na mga batang lalaki.
Pahayag ng Pintor: Bulowa ni Pedro: www.peterbulow.com
Ang nanay ko noong bata pa ako, ay sa pagtatago sa panahon ng Holocaust. Sa paglipas ng mga taon, ang kanyang karanasan, o kung ano ang naiisip ko na siya ang kanyang karanasan, nagkaroon ng malaking impluwensya sa akin. Ang impluwensyang ito ay makikita kapwa sa aking personal at sa aking artistikong buhay. Isinilang ako sa India, tumira noong bata pa ako sa Berlin at nandayuhan sa US kasama ang mga magulang ko sa edad na 8. Mayroon akong masters sa Fine Arts sa iskultura. Ako rin ang tumanggap ng isang grant na magpapahintulot sa akin na gumawa ng isang limitadong bilang ng mga bronze busts ng Holocaust nakaligtas. Mangyaring ipaalam sa akin kung ikaw ay interesado sa pagiging bahagi ng proyektong ito.
Pahayag ng Pintor :Roj Rodriguez: www.rojrodriguez.com
Ang aking katawan ng trabaho ay nagpapakita ng aking paglalakbay mula sa Houston, TX – kung saan ako ipinanganak at lumaki – sa New York – kung saan, nakalantad sa kanyang etniko, pagkakaiba-iba ng kultura at sosyo-ekonomya at ang natatanging tanawin nito sa mga imigrante– Nakakita ako ng panibagong paggalang sa kultura ng lahat. Ako ay apprenticed na may mahusay na itinatag photographer, naglakbay sa buong mundo malawak at collaborated sa maraming mga nangungunang propesyonal sa patlang. Mula noong Enero, 2006, ang trabaho ko bilang isang malayang photographer ay naging proseso ng pagkuha sa mga personal na proyekto ng photography na lumilitaw mula sa sarili kong pag-unawa sa paraan ng pagbabahagi natin sa mundo at ginagamit ang ating pagkamalikhain.
